Commentary: O.C.’s Nature Reserve marks 20 years of preservation

Orange County created something extraordinary 20 years ago.

If you want to see it, take a hike in Bommer Canyon. Or kayak in the Back Bay. Or mountain bike in Crystal Cove State Park.

These are all part of the Nature Reserve of Orange County, which arose from a remarkable set of circumstances and people that came together in the summer of 1996.

Many of those people reunited recently in an Irvine meadow to recall the birth of this 37,000-acre natural treasure.

It relied on an untested California state law, the Natural Community Conservation and Planning (NCCP) Act, designed to protect species by preserving large habitats rather than individual plants and animals.

And it relied on the cooperation of private landowners, environmentalists and government officials with a shared vision: to protect the most biologically vital habitats of central and coastal Orange County while accommodating reasonable economic growth.

Twenty-three public and private groups united behind this “novel idea,” with strong leadership from former California Secretary for Resources Douglas Wheeler Wheeler (then working for Gov. Pete Wilson), Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren and U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.

“We were entering uncharted regulatory terrain,” Babbitt wrote later. “Since the passage of the (1973) Endangered Species Act, no planning on this scale had ever been attempted.”

It proved to be an unparalleled success.

Their foresight saved one of the rarest ecosystems in the world — often compared to the Amazon, Madagascar and the eastern Himalayas for its breadth of biodiversity and the threat it once faced.

Since 1996, the reserve has witnessed the restoration and recovery of thousands of acres of coastal sage scrub; the return of hundreds of California Gnatcatchers; and the preservation of seven federally protected species and more than 30 sensitive species.

In addition, more than 40 California cities have followed Orange County’s lead, using the NCCP Act to set aside 1.5million acres as nature reserves, with applications to preserve millions of acres more. And across the U.S., that pattern has been replicated untold times, using the Habitat Conservation Plan within the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The Nature Reserve was created from a 21,000-acre commitment by Irvine Co., and 16,000 acres from local public entities. It stretches from Costa Mesa to San Juan Capistrano, and from the coast to the National Forest.

Private landowners and public agencies contributed a $10 million endowment fund for management of the reserve, coordinated by the nonprofit Natural Communities Coalition, or NCC.

For two decades, the NCC has coordinated management of the reserve with a coalition of 18 board members that include representatives of cities, utilities, transportation agencies, water districts, wildlife agencies, fire authorities, universities, private landowners, public agencies and members of the general public.

The Nature Reserve is for all of us. So on this 20th anniversary, let’s enjoy it. Hike in Bommer Canyon. Kayak in the Back Bay. Mountain bike in Crystal Cove State Park. And let’s continue to preserve our reserve — all 37,000 acres of it.

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JAMES SULENTICH is the executive director of the Irvine-based Natural Communities Coalition.